A General Criterion for Low-Cycle Multiaxial Fatigue Failure

Abstract

A new, general criterion is proposed for multiaxial low-cycle fatigue failure. Contours of constant fatigue life on a plot of maximum shear strain against the tensile strain acting normal to the plane of maximum shear strain are represented by a parametric criterion of the form g(θ,Nf)=kf1(θ)f2(Nf). Here g is the magnitude of the vector from the origin to a point on the constant life contour, θ is the angle associated with g in this space, Nf is the number of cycles to failure, k is a constant and f1 (θ) and f2(Nf) are two separate functions of θ and Nf, respectively. It is shown that all previously proposed macroscopic criteria are particular cases of the failure function g(θ, Nf). Experimental results from several authors are analyzed using the new criterion.